Busy Black Friday proves the strength of Worldline EMV 3-D Secure Access Control Server

Resilient authentication solution has seen transactions more than double in a single year

After almost two years of sharply increasing ecommerce, it’s no surprise that this year's Black Friday saw a huge number of online transactions worldwide despite supply-chain woes. This Black Friday was also the first to see the EU’s payments security act, known as PSD2, in full effect. The act, which aims to secure payments across the block, includes obligations to secure online payment through verifying customer identity.

The enforcement of PSD2, combined with the sharp rise in ecommerce due to COVID-19, has created a strong uptake in card issuers deploying customer authentication services. Worldline developed an EMV® 3-D Secure Access Control Server to offer issuers a clear and easy solution for payment authentication. More than 100 issuers, from major financial players to small banks, have already implemented Worldline Access Server. 

Twice as many transactions
All of these issuers across the world have combined for 1.6 billion transactions so far this year. Black Friday saw 9.3 million transactions, more than double last year’s 4.5 million. The Worldline solution has handled all of this with ease, proving its value in today’s market and its readiness for the challenges to come. In a landscape of rising ecommerce fraud, Worldline is bringing its DNA of always increasing security to online payments.

“We are seeing a continuous increase in ecommerce”, explains Renan Bodin, ACS Product Manager at Worldline Financial Services. “Analysts expect a 6-10% increase in the next years, varying by country. Naturally, this will drive our growth. However, the continuous deployment of 3DS will be also a key driver.”

Merchants across Europe are now required to authenticate payments as part of the EU’s regulatory efforts to strengthen and secure online payments. Despite the colossal growth in 3DS deployment during the past year, an additional 20% increase is expected for next year. The increase in online payments fraud that has happened concurrently with the pandemic makes issuer authentication even more valuable.

Frictionless as the targeted solution
For cardholders, EMV 3-D Secure is a pledge of security, but it can be also seen as a brake in the shopping experience. Issuers can opt for frictionless authentication in certain contexts and at certain risk levels. The Worldline solution’s integrated rules management analysis & fraud engines evaluate the transaction on the back-end, so the cardholder doesn’t experience authentication as another step in the payment process. When frictionless authentication is not applicable, WL Access Control Server proposes a wide range of authentication methods for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), from SMS messages to bank apps.

The solution also has the singular advantage of being part of the Worldline ecosystem. “As a key player at the centre of the online payments system”, Bodin notes, “Worldline can provide all the bricks.” For example, Worldline’s Trusted Authentication solution can be integrated into smartphone bank apps to be used as part of EMV 3-D Secure. This wide payments solutions portfolio comes with a couple of key advantages. It is both safer and easier to have one key partner, rather than having multiple partners interacting within an interface. Having one person responsible for all of the elements brings additional simplicity, especially when it comes to deploying new solutions. Secure and reliable customer authentication is just the beginning.

Please visit our website for more information on the Worldline EMV 3-D Secure Access Control Server.